A lawyer who was a key person of interest in the murder of Dr Victoria Mutiso has been re-arrested outside the Milimani Law Courts.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

This was after the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP Renson Mulele Ingonga, recommended murder charges against her through a court application over the murder of her stepmother, Dr Victoria, on August 24.

The Senior Resident Magistrate for Milimani Law Courts, Joan Mati, approved the application filed by the DPP, thus giving the green light for the court to detain the lawyer further.

The charges also extend to her mother and brother, who are key suspects in the case, which centres on a multi-billion-shilling 20-acre piece of land in Mlolongo.

📌 What You Need to Know

This comes days after the High Court granted a cash bond of Ksh1 million each to her and her co-accused, securing her partial freedom after the two were arraigned over allegations of possessing a stolen  Range Rover Sport valued at Ksh15 million. On Monday, Judge Lilian Kwamboka, who presided over the case, made her ruling based on the fact that the investigations into the mother and son had already been completed, but the file was forwarded to the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for review.

However, the court was told by the ODPP that it has not yet communicated whether the two should be formally charged. Prosecutors then argued the extra week was necessary to give the ODPP enough time to study the file and issue directions.

Pending her rearrest, her defence, led by the city lawyer Danstan Omari, opposed the application to transfer her file to another court, arguing that the matter should remain before the current court.  In his submission, Omari maintains that she has already submitted herself to the court and remains out on bond, while questioning the State’s attempt to move the case to another judicial officer, arguing that transferring the file could interfere with her ability to represent her clients in a related matter.

He also demanded that the state provide a well-drafted charge sheet for the accused on Tuesday, since the court gave the state 21 days to conduct the investigation, and the time had lapsed without the investigators coming up with tangible evidence.

"The state was granted 21 days to do the investigation. We expect the state to come tomorrow with the charges. I don't know which court it is in, but they were granted 30 days," stated Lawyer Omari. Adding, "This has two files. So we completely object to that application. But this file be prematurely be transferred before you apply your mind into the evidence that we have."

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke